Nopi

For me food signifies the best things in life; it’s a way of learning about culture, bonding with family and friends and is a wonderful cathartic process to de-stress after a long day. This year for my birthday, food was pretty much the focus of all my celebrations. I prepared a three course dinner party on the day of my birthday to take the opportunity to make some recipes I’ve been dying to try and treat my friends to something that I enjoy doing ( I revel in the glamour of a dinner party with candles, flowers and wine). During my stay to Portugal, my grandma treated me to a meal by the Chaine des Rotisseurs who had a two-star Michelin chef visiting to cook a special 7 course gourmet lunch and to top it off, two of my lovely friends, who I have a huge food bond with, took me to Nopi, the restaurant by famed Yotem Ottolenghi.

I’ve wanted to try Nopi for a long time, Ottolenghi is a chef I really admire for his ability to make innovative food that isn’t too eccentric and uses a good variety of vegetables. The setting was simple and calming with white walls and dusted matte gold furnishings. We were promptly sat at our table by the window and were delighted to see a wine menu specifically promoting Team GB with some British wines.  As we’ve never tried British wines before, we were given some samples to decide and went for a lovely medium bodied red.

Every detail has been thought of in this restaurant which distinguishes it as one of the top restaurants in Soho. The gold ‘O’ is incorporated into the furnishings including the napkin rings and cloakroom tickets. The toilets are also an experience, taking you into a magical setting of mirrors jutting out like glaciers.

We chose 7 of the sharing dishes which were more than enough for three of us, although I must admit it was hard to choose as every dish looked delicious.  The service was impeccable with the waitress helping in our choice and recommending dishes as we tried to get a good balance of textures and flavours. All the dishes were delicious, from the sweet potato with figs and goats cheese to the aubergine with pomegranate and feta but the stand out dish was the savoury cheesecake with beetroot. I am not exaggerating when I say this is one of the best things I have tasted..Ever. It was melt-in-the-mouth warm cheese which went so well with the sweet beetroot, basically a dream.
We made sure we had room for dessert and shared the strawberry mess and sweet filo pastry served with plum compote.  As it was such a special occasion we also treated ourselves to some after dinner drinks and coffee.

The food was delicious. Ottolenghi creates recipes that savour the flavour of quality ingredients. Everything was cooked to perfection and combined with the beautiful, ethereal-like setting and stellar service, it was a night to remember.